Thursday, February 22, 2007

Tasting: Two bad Riojas

I can appreciate the last two, but the first one just kills all the fruit in the wine. The type of wood notes it gives are both overwhelming and unpleasant. The best ones can be attractive in an elegant, mellow sort of way. Most are just thin and unpleasant.

Lately I tasted one of the most popular Riojas in the world: Marques de Caceres Crianza 2003.

It had been a while and it will be a long while again!

The nose was not unpleasant…very simple raspberry jam (after all this is the extremely hot 2003 vintage) and a few notes of older wood and oxidation.

The mouth was the big disappointment: thin and vegetal…very little of the fruit from the nose showed in the mouth. Bracing acidity was out of balance with the lack of fruit. Extremely short…died out in a bitter, fruitless way.

It's only about 7€, but there are far better wines it Spain at that price.

Quite unpleasant….I don't get the popularity of this wine…the Yellowtail phenomena I can understand…this I cannot!

I feel bad that so many people's experience with Rioja is based in this wine.2. Gran Reservas: This is the most elite level of the traditional reservas. You rarely find any modern Riojas in this style. Why? Because the minimum oak aging period is 18 months…this was recently lowered from 24 months in an effort to improve the category. But in reality this is invariably a traditional style where you most often see from 28-35 months in oak! These wines can be elegant, but fruit they do not have!All the new wave, elite Riojas are uber-reservas, never Gran Reservas. Reserva is the category that requires a minimum of 12 months in wood.

Many people sing the praises of this style as representing a finer time in Rioja, but I personally think that time has passed. I still have a lot of them to taste and I remain open to changing my mind….but there is work to be done!

There is a huge range in prices....from 20€ for the lower end versions to 159€ for Vega Sicilia (obviously a category apart). The cheaper versions have no fruit, but are mellow and smooth. The higher versions, around 70€ have more fruit…but still the oak dominates.

Recently I tasted one of the lower end Gran Reservas: Viña Alarde Gran Reserva 1997 by Bodegas Berberana. 36 months in American oak..and all for 12 euros!The wine was not unpleasant: gentle vanilla nose with oxidized notes. Mouth seemed alcoholic, despite 12.5% alc! This is because there was no fruit, just strong vanilla and woody flavors. This is a light bodied wine, with a thin mouthfeel. The finish was pleasant, medium long. Not unpleasant, but not attractive either.

As I said I don't get it…

Maybe I have an overly modern palate, blasted to insensitivity by extraction and alcohol…a plate that can't appreciate the subtleties of these wines….but it seems a crime to pay a lot for a wine that has absolutely no fruit and is dominated by older wood aromas. If you want a cheaper wine that has no fruit, go for a lower end Gran Reservas or a traditional Rioja Reserva.

35 comments:

First of all, congratulations on your blog. As it's written in english, I'll try to do the same for this comment.

I'm afraid I don´t share your point of view on a few statements you make.

Maybe the two wines you mention are not the best example of what good Rioja is. Marques de Cáceres is probably one of the best marketed Rioja wines in foreign countries, and this since a long time ago. But this doesn't mean it's the best option around. Not at all. I don't think we can consider Berberana as a good example of what Rioja can offer either. If you want to have a good opinion on what Rioja is, please consider one of the following: La Rioja Alta (Alberdi, Arana, Ardanza, 904, 890, ...), Marqués de Riscal, Marqués de Murrieta, López de Heredia (I specialy like their white gran reservas), Muga, CVNE, ...

I disagree in that "long oak aging in older barrels kills all the fruit". I tend to think that it's new oak that crashes all the fruit in the wine if it's not correctly used. Please note that "Old" oak is not the same as "dirty" oak. "old" oak can ve as clean as new one when correctly maintained. Oak was never intended to add any fragrance to wine, although this can seem odd to new consumers nowadays.

Don't expect to find ripe and exotic red and black fruit in good Riojas, anyway. I always find that good tempranillo grown in Rioja has mainly a distinctive and subtle nose of cherry, that I like a lot. Otherwise, if what you like is fruity wine, you have some of the best examples of unoaked "maceración carbónica" spanish wines in Rioja. Try one from Luberri (Biga), Sierra Cantabria (Murmurón), Ramírez de Ganuza (R), and so on.

First of all, congratulations on your blog. As it's written in english, I'll try to do the same for this comment.I'm afraid I don´t share your point of view on a few statements you make.Maybe the two wines you mention are not the best example of what good Rioja is. Marques de Cáceres is probably one of the best marketed Rioja wines in foreign countries, and this since a long time ago. But this doesn't mean it's the best option around. Not at all. I don't think we can consider Berberana as a good example of what Rioja can offer either. If you want to have a good opinion on what Rioja is, please consider one of the following: La Rioja Alta (Alberdi, Arana, Ardanza, 904, 890, ...), Marqués de Riscal, Marqués de Murrieta, López de Heredia (I specialy like their white gran reservas), Muga, CVNE, ...I disagree in that "long oak aging in older barrels kills all the fruit". I tend to think that it's new oak that crashes all the fruit in the wine if it's not correctly used. Please note that "Old" oak is not the same as "dirty" oak. "old" oak can ve as clean as new one when correctly maintained. Oak was never intended to add any fragrance to wine, although this can seem odd to new consumers nowadays. Don't expect to find ripe and exotic red and black fruit in good Riojas, anyway. I always find that good tempranillo grown in Rioja has mainly a distinctive and subtle nose of cherry, that I like a lot. Otherwise, if what you like is fruity wine, you have some of the best examples of unoaked "maceración carbónica" spanish wines in Rioja. Try one from Luberri (Biga), Sierra Cantabria (Murmurón), Ramírez de Ganuza (R), and so on.Again, congratulations for your blogging and good luck in Madrid.Best regards,Sobre Vino

I think Rioja red wines are classified into four categories. The first, simply labeled "Rioja," is the youngest, spending less than a year in an oak aging barrel. A "crianza" is wine aged for at least two years, at least one of which was in oak.

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